TRUANCY has risen in the region's schools despite millions of pounds being spent trying to keep pupils in class, figures show.

The proportion of half-days - or sessions -skipped at North-East schools rose to 1.31 per cent in the last spring term, compared with 0.96 per cent in 2005-6.

That amounts to almost 225,000 half-days when children played truant in a term, according to the Government.

There were sharp rises in almost all councils, with the biggest in Middlesbrough -1.3 per cent to 1.92 per cent.

Similarly, 0.9 per cent of sessions were missed without authorisation in North Yorkshire, up from 0.65 per cent.

The figures are not exactly comparable, because it is the first time the Dfes has produced figures for a single term in each authority, rather than the entire school year.

However, when the spring terms last year and this year are compared across England, there is a rise in truancy from 1.49 per cent of sessions to 1.61 per cent.

It comes despite high-profile Government initiatives, including £100 fines for the parents of persistent truants.

Prosecutions follow if the fine is unpaid, with courts having the power to impose further fines of up to £2,500, or three-month jail terms.

The Government has also funded councils to search parks and shopping centres for truants.

Tory schools spokesman Nick Gibb said the increase in truancy came "despite nearly a billion pounds of public money and a range of Government initiatives".

He said: "We need a genuine focus on improving behaviour in our schools -zero tolerance of disruption."

David Laws, of the Liberal Democrats, said: "These figures hide the reality of thousands of children who have fallen out of the education system and who are hanging around on our streets."

Figures show that Darlington had the worst truancy problem in the North-East, but it was the only authority to show an improvement -down from 2.23 per cent of sessions skipped to 2.11.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: "Tackling the problem of unauthorised absences from school is a key priority for the council, and we have made solid progress.

"We have a variety of measures in place to combat unauthorised absences.

"These range from truancy sweeps with the police to prosecutions for parents.

"Schools also have their own action plans in place and will work particularly closely with families of children whose attendance record is below 80 per cent."

The Government's flagship city academies had the highest truancy rates at 3.04 per cent in the spring term this year, almost double that of other secondary schools.

However, ministers said many were because parents had taken their children on holiday during term-time, and urged councils to tackle the issue